There is a lot more to think about when getting a dog than just getting him or her a bowl to eat out of and some food to go in it. The Kooikerhondje breed of dog is no exception. Kooikerhondjes, puppies especially, need to be toilet trained, house trained, and, depending on their age and the environment they came from, trained not to bite. Let's take a look at how some of this can be accomplished.

Unless you want to spend all your free time cleaning up little (or big) messes that seem to magically appear every time you leave your Kooikerhondje alone for a few minutes, you are going to have to invest some time toilet training. The basic rule is to not let him go in the house at all is possible. Also, minimize your own headache by keeping the dog in his or her own personal closed in space so that the messes aren't spread out. This will encourage the dog to hold it so that the product won't be present where he hangs his hat so to speak. While this may seem to be the main consideration in training a Kooikerhondje, you'll soon realize there are a few other things you don't want to see him doing around the house.

The next topic of interest is how the dog should and should not behave when at home. You decide it it's okay for your friend to be on the furniture or if this is totally unacceptable. A large investment of time and attention is necessary when your new furry friend first arrives because you want to prevent bad habits from the start. One technique is to keep your Kooikerhondje on a leash wherever you want him to remain calm, controlled, and to avoid any undesirable behaviors. Once self-control is exhibited in the environment then the leash may be removed to examine his progress. While general rules and boundaries are very important there is another behavior that simply must be eliminated before it starts.

Dogs can bite. The good thing is that by putting your hand in a dog's mouth then loudly exclaiming whenever he or she begins to exert any pressure, you can teach the dog that this is unacceptable. In time you can respond to less and less pressure until the Kooikerhondje learns to never actually bite hard and to instantly release at your command. This training rounds out some of the basics that have to be taught and learned with a new dog.

Getting a dog can be a lot of work in the beginning. The Kooikerhondje breed has to learn when to use the toilet, what will and won't fly as far as behavior goes, and, specifically, that biting is bad. It may be a lot of work, but the payoff can be well worth it when you have a new best friend.